Gender statistics in PRSPs

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Gender statistics in PRSPs

• Sulekha Patel
• The World Bank
• Gender Forum, Ghana, Accra
• January 26-28, 2009

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Gender Issues in PRSPs

• Context
• To evaluate gender sensitivity of country PRSPs
• MDGs
• Expanded ( proposed) set of indicators
• To identify existing gaps in PRSP coverage
• Next steps

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Key Elements of Gender Equality
Gender equality in rights, resources, and voice
Leveling the field of opportunities
Household Household resource and task
allocations, fertility decisions
Society Civic and political participation
Economy Markets Access to land, financial
services, labor markets, technology
Domains of choices, domains for policy
Aggregate economic performance (poverty
reduction, growth)
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Framework Key Elements of Gender Equality

• Ties together key elements of gender equality
• In the household increased gender equality
  between men and women changes the allocation of
  HH expenditures, resulting in a larger share of
  resources devoted to childrens education and
  health.
• In the market gender inequality is reflected in
  unequal access to land, credit, and labor
  markets, and in significantly less access to new
  production technologies.
• In society gender inequality is expressed as
  restrictions to womens participation in civic
  and political life.
• In addition to improving individuals lives,
  increased gender equality can contribute to
  better aggregate economic performance.
• Source WB Global Monitoring Report 2007

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Advance Gender Equalitybusiness case

• Countries are falling behind their commitment to
  meet the MDGs
• Gains in womens economic opportunities lag
  behind those on womens capabilities
• Lack of womens empowerment
• Imperils growth and poverty reduction
• Less favourable education and health outcomes for
  children
• Rapid spread of HIV/AIDS

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MDG 3 Promote gender equality and empower women
Official Indicators

• Target 3A Eliminate gender disparities in
  primary and secondary education, preferably by
  2005, and in all levels of education by no later
  than 2015

Household Economy and market Society
Ratio of girls to boys enrollment in primary, secondary, and tertiary education Share of women in wage employ-ment in the non-agricultural sector Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament
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MDG3 Effect on Other MDGs

• Gender equality and womens empowerment are
  channels to attaining other MDGs
• universal primary education (MDG2A),
• lower under-five mortality (MDG4A),
• improved maternal health (MDG5A and B),
• lower likelihood of contracting HIV/AIDS (MDG6A),
• Reduce biodiversity loss (MDG7B).

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Limitations of the Official MDG3 Indicators

• Only partially measure gender equality
• Do not monitor key elements of gender equality
  (health outcomes and disparities in access to
  productive resources such as land, credit, and
  technology)
• Inadequate measurement of empowerment
• National-level indicators can veil inequalities
  between particular subgroups

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Official MDG indicators conceal inequalities
within countries

• Ratio of girls to boys enrollment in primary,
  secondary, and tertiary education
• say nothing about educational outcomes
  (Completion? Getting a job?) Gaps between boys
  and girls completion rates remain high in SSA and
  SA (90 to 83 and 67 to 57 respectively)
• Changes in the indicators based on parity ratios
  are difficult to interpret. (Increases in
  female-to-male ratios can result from a fall in
  male rates with female rates remaining constant)
• Measures the status of women relative to men,
  rather than whether women are empowered (whether
  they have the ability to exercise options,
  choice, and control)

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Other Indicators limitations

• Share of women in non/agricultural wage
  employment
• Does not take into account the circumstances of
  each country such as the share of
  non-agricultural employment as a percentage of
  total employment.
• Limited use for low-income countries where wage
  employment is not a main source of jobs.
• Does not capture the dimensions of job
  quality/ability of women to work for pay
  (economic empowerment)
• Does not quantify barriers inhibiting women from
  participating in the labour force.
• Does not capture the ability of women to control
  their fertility
• Proportion of seats held by women in national
  parliaments
• Captures political participation only at the
  national level, not at provincial or local
  levels,

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Prospective MDG 3 Indicators
Household Economy and markets Society
Test scores, male and female Gender gap in wages Percentage voting by male, female, and ratio
Proportion of women who have ever been victims of physical violence by an intimate male partner Share of women in informal wage and self-employment in nonagricultural employment Proportion of women in the executive branch
Percent of employed women who face access to child care Percentage of individuals who possess basic citizenship documents, female, and ratio
Business by average size and sex of owner
Access to credit for women and men
Land ownership by female, male, and jointly held
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Gender in the PRSPs

• 45 PRSPs, from 2003-08 were reviewed
• Examined the degree to which gender issued were
  addressed, and deemed measureable
• MDGs
• Prospective set of indicators

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MDG coverage in PRSPs
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Related MDG indicators
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Prospective MDG3 Indicators Household
Issue Indicator Number of countries
Test scores, male and female   0
     
Proportion of women who have ever been victims of physical violence by an intimate male partner/Domestic Violence    
  of women who have experienced violence 4
  who know that violence against women is a crime 1
  of cases prosecuted 1
  of women victim reintegrated in the society 2
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Prospective MDG3 Indicators- Economy and Markets
Issue Indicator Number of countries
Gender gap in wages    
  Females wages as of males wages 1
  Gender salary gap in the private sector 1
Share of women in informal wage and self-employment in non-agricultural employment    
  Share of women self- employed 1
  Number of hours women in agricultural work per day 1
  Informal sector 9
Percent of employed women who face access to child care    
  Percentage of children getting day-care facilities 1
Business by average size and sex of owner   0
Access to credit for women and men    
  Percentage of women with access to training, credit and fiscal incentives for SMEs 1
  Percentage of women who have obtained credit 7
  Volume of microcredits granted to women 1
  Ratio of men to women who have obtained credit 1
Land ownership by female, male, and jointly held    
  Percentage of girls/women with access to land ownership 2
  Percentage of women who had the right to inherit 1
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Prospective MDG3 Indicators Society
Issue Indicator Number of countries
Percentage voting by male, female, and ratio   0
Proportion of women in the executive branch   7
Percentage of individuals who possess basic citizenship documents, female, and ratio   0
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Next steps

• Advocacy Raise awareness for Bank and country
  staff
• Developing training for Bank staff
• Collaboration with partners to develop indicators
  to measure and monitor the prospective
  indicators
• Identify indicators
• Develop methodology to gather and process data